Menu

ROH Recap – February 27, 2016

One of the things I’d like to do with DDTpod.com is start crafting columns for the wrestling I watch, and since I happen to have a snow day today (on the second day of spring, no less), I decided to try to catch up on my Ring of Honor viewing.

I have a hard time watching ROH regularly. Part of it is the inconvenience of it all, and I mean that in the most first world of ways. Logging onto my desktop, going to the website, logging in, finding where I left off – I mean, man, what a hassle!

Still, I always enjoy it when I do watch, so I’ll try to be better about this, NAIborhood.

Rather than providing an actual review, which you can find anywhere, let’s go back to my Teacher Days, and I’ll try to provide a lesson one can learn by watching each match.

—

Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser vs. The Boys

Lesson:Depth of talent matters.

I’m a huge Silas Young fan, as I’ve mentioned multiple times before, but in this case, I want to talk about everybody else in this match. Let’s start with the Beer City Bruiser, someone who is far more capable in that ring than his size should allow. Between him and Adam Cole later in the show, I might have to start a petition to start seeing the Wheelbarrow Suplex in WWE – such a good move!

I was also impressed with the abilities of the Boys, whatever their names are. I was thrilled to see them have actual tights and boots to battle in and they did a pretty admirable job in the ring. I’m not sure if they are long-term fixtures in the ROH tag scene, but I hope they get a chance, because they were fun to watch.

None of these talents are anywhere near the top of the card yet they were still able to put on an entertaining and engaging opening contest. You have to have that.

Brian Fury vs. Action Ortiz

Lesson: Experience matters, too.

Sure, I could spend this time talking about the amazing dive that Bam Bam Bigelow Ortiz did, and that was super impressive, but we’re focusing on Fury. In both of his ROH matches so far, we’ve seen him win by taking advantage of his 17 years of experience. In his opening match, he grabbed the referee, keeping his opponent from hitting a top rope maneuver and then quickly picking up the win.

In this match vs. Ortiz, he used the momentum of a fall to score a cheap low blow that looked very much like an accident, following it up with his impressive powerbomb. We don’t see this kind of thing often. I was reminded of watching NWA PPVs on WWE Network – this is how the Four Horsemen cheated back in the day.

Since these shows are pre-taped, I know what happens in the finals, but regardless of the outcome (#SpoilerFree), I hope Fury sticks around in ROH, because he’s a lot of fun.

Punisher Martinez vs. Lio Rush

Lesson: Size matters.

Full disclosure – I didn’t realize there was a theme to my lessons here until reading over the first half of the column. Happy accident, that was.

While this match was good, the fact that Martinez was a full foot taller (not to mention probably 100+ pounds heavier) factored into the quality. We saw on a couple of occasions that the two wrestlers avoided a full-on collision, probably because it might have squashed poor little Lio.

I’m not taking anything away from either competitor – Punisher looks like he belongs on Lucha Underground ASAP and Lio Rush has a lot of skills for a rookie, but this is one of the reasons why I feel that having weight classes isn’t a bad idea. Martinez’ dive over the ropes would have been a whole lot more stunning had he actually connected with Lio with anything but his hair and his fingertips.

Matt Sydal vs. Adam Cole

Lesson: Adam Cole is as natural a talent as Kevin Owens.

I love Adam Cole, babayyyyy. Everything about him screams professional wrestler, despite the fact that he doesn’t have the stereotypical muscle-bound look. But the way he walks, the way he talks, the way he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. . .

Sounds like our current Intercontinental champion, doesn’t it?

Adam Cole and Kevin Owens were both born to be professional wrestlers. More specifically, born to be heels, even though the crowd goes crazy for them. They each have the innate gift for this business, and that’s why I firmly believe Adam Cole signs with WWE by the end of 2016. Contracts be damned, whatever Adam’s is. It’s going to happen.